


Newhill and new friends

by A1Abrhams



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, Drug Use, Explicit Language, F/F, F/M, First Time, Homophobic Language, M/M, Major Original Character(s), Multi, Rape/Non-con Elements, Underage Drinking, Underage Rape/Non-con
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:42:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 8,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23531026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A1Abrhams/pseuds/A1Abrhams
Summary: Annabeth missed the small town rural Massachusetts were she had been raise. So, naturally, she's ecstatic when she returns after a yeãr of living in San Francisco. Piper loves her boyfriend, and when she discover she's going to move to his town, she's even happier. Little does she know, this town has darker secrets and an even darker story to it. Welcome to Newhill, where everyone is neck-deep in shit.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Original Female Character(s), Calypso/Leo Valdez, Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Jason Grace/Piper McLean, Nico di Angelo & Will Solace, Rachel Elizabeth Dare/Percy Jackson, Thalia Grace & Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano
Comments: 5
Kudos: 8





	1. Coming Home

**Author's Note:**

> It's my first fanfic, so if you see any obvious mistakes, point them out, I'm trying to improve.

I

Annabeth

Old home, old school, old friends, old me, I guess. This little town has so many different memories for me. Percy, Thalia, Luke, Jinn, Alice, Reyna, Nico and everyone else was there through thick and thin for each other. As we pulled up to our old home, now fallen in disrepair, I remembered all the time we spent on the woods out back. All the summer nights before we had to grow up, before it all. Karen, the lovely stepmother she is, woke me up from my nostalgia trip to bitch about something that I, surprise, hadn’t done right. Something about a suitcase that opened mid-trip. Not my fucking problem, bitch, I thought, playing with the idea of flipping her off and climbing through the back window, but dad was here, and he’d be pissed. So, I got up and did whatever she wanted me to do and started unloading. I raced up to my old room after it was all done, almost crying when I saw my old pink wall paint, remembering all that had happened in this room. The stain on the corner of the wall from when I punched Jason while he was holding a glass of wine, the dent on the window frame from when Jinn tried backflipping and Alice decided it would be funny shoulder-bashing him. I could stand there all week remembering everything that had happened in my room throughout the years. But I was already tired from the trip here and didn’t have the energy to do so. I pondered going to Leo’s house and scare him, but my muscles screamed for me not to do so and I obliged. Dad called for me and her stepbrothers to go down to have dinner, and I did so, hungrily. Dinner was sandwiches, but I couldn’t complain. I was home. My real home, left because of a “better opportunity for architecture” as Karen had put it. Turns out it was a sham and we had to live a year in California. Not that it was bad, hell, it was awesome seeing all the sights, but I missed my friends and I wanted to be here for them. Most of all though, I missed how at home it made me feel just being here. City walls never had much love for me. I went up to my room and sat on the bed, reminiscing about better times, when there were no worries and we all had each other. I laid back and stared at the ceiling, thinking about what I’d do now. And just as quick I was asleep. I woke up the next morning with an alarm that my bored self had put during the trip, thankfully. I groggily slapped around until the alarm was of and pulled myself out of bed, much to my own sadness. I’d fallen asleep dressed so that was no worry. I quickly brushed my teeth and tried bringing my hair to heel, but failed once again. I couldn’t care less though, it was the first day of school, I’d see my friends again. I quickly ate breakfast and got on my way. First stop, Leo’s. Ever since we were kids, we lived near each other, so, every morning, I would climb to his window and scare the crap out of him. So, I went on my merry way, an idiot smile plastered over my face just imagining his face. As I got to his street, I took the alley that went into his backyard, like I had done a thousand times. Most of the times Leo’s step-brother would see me because he was outside working on his car, but today he was nowhere to be seen. I went up to the pipe that I used to climb to get to his window. I climbed up, closing my eyes and going off of memory, amusing myself in still knowing where to put my hands and feet. I reached his window and peeked inside, seeing the lights on and Leo laying on the bed staring at the ceiling. I knocked on the window, and he looked at me. No surprise, no startling, no nothing. Just him, his eyes puffy and red from crying. He stood up and unlocked the window and gestured for me to come in. He had grown. He was still small as ever, at least compared to me, but we had both grown. He looked like what Santa would have pictured if he wanted a Latino elf to help out. His hair was curly as ever, he still had that mischievous expression, but he looked defeated, like he found a prank he couldn’t pull.

“What’s the matter Leo?” I asked, trying to sound less surprised than I actually was.

“Charles died. Didn’t you hear?” He looked like he was about to cry again. My instinct was to hug him and tell him everything was going to be okay, but I knew he wouldn’t like it, so I just stood there awkwardly. He sat again on the bed. And looked at me with a curious gaze.

“Hey, wait a minute… Annabeth?!” He jumped up and hugged me, a smile perma-glued to his face.

“Yeah, it’s me Valdez. Been a long while.” I hugged him tight, god knows how much I missed him. I wanted to console him , to tell him everything was going to be okay, now more than ever. He had been rejected by his own family after his mother’s death, forced to live with unloving foster-families, he had run away multiple times, and now that he had finally found a loving family and got over what had happened, Charles was taken away from him. He was the best an older brother could be. Caring, attentive and a good person. He had refined Leo’s skill for mechanics and helped him divert his seemingly endless energy towards something other than mischief. And now he was gone. I understood Leo’s situation, but this town was much too short on pity. Everyone had lost someone. Annabeth had lost her own mother.

“How’d Silena react?” Silena Beauregard, Charles’s girlfriend. They were high school sweethearts and had remained together until now, two years later.

“She’s also gone. A week after the funeral, she was run over. No one knows who did it, the cameras were off.” We broke apart from the hug, and I noticed Leo only looked angry, like he had a pretty good idea of who had done it, and so did I.

“They still think it was us even after all these years?” I asked, incredulous.

“Most likely that’s it. Either that or it’s just the usual. No one knows, and even if they care, we can’t do shit, like always.” His anger grew, and when Leo was pissed, it was not a good sign.

“Let’s get to school. We’ll talk to the others and discuss what to do- “

“No” His expression hardened into a snarl of pain and rage; I couldn’t figure out why.

“Why, Leo? They’ll also want to help”

“You can’t tell them, alright. Just promise me that.”

“Alright. I won’t” His expression eased after this. Why wouldn’t he want it to be known? Leo was weird like that. He quickly got his stuff and yelled he was leaving to his adoptive mom and went out the way I came in. On our way to school, he asked the question I didn’t want to hear.

“So, how long are you staying?” I didn’t know. I wanted to stay here forever, but my stepmom wanted us to move back to California for good.

“I don’t know. If it was up to me, it’d be forever, but as usual, it isn’t.” I sighed. All I wanted was to be given a choice on the matter. But no, because mommy and daddy know what’s best for me, sure they do.

“How was Cali?”

“Good, but I missed it here. I have no good memories of my friends there. It was boring. Here, no matter what, it’s never boring.” Leo chuckled at this, and so did I. It was good being back. Really fucking good.


	2. Reunion

**II**

Annabeth

We made our way to school, chatting about literally everything along the way; from the average California summer temperature to the application play-doh in cement constructions. Leo had a mind for engineering I’ll admit. But when we turned to the school’s street, Leo looked at me with a concern I had never seen in him before. His brows were knit in worry, and I was genuinely lost. He never looked like this, not for as much time as I knew him. His elfish features were dimmed by gloom. I broke the ice, since he wasn’t going to.

“What’s on your mind, Leo? Why the worry?”

“Ann, I’m going to take the back entrance. If you don’t mind.”  
I was surprised. No one ever called me “Ann”, only Percy, and even he refrained from doing so. We only used nicknames when things were serious. It was sort of code.

“Sure.” I shrugged. He bolted faster than ever towards the back of the school and I went towards the main gate, like always. As I crossed the street, some kids passing by in a motorbike pushed me. Needless to say, I flopped face first onto the pavement in a less than graceful way. Great start Chase, eating pavement in your first day of school. They pulled over, laughing like madmen. But then, they stopped, looking scared shitless. What caused it, I don’t know, but I sure as fuck was grateful for it. Then, realization hit, I was bleeding. I screamed internally. Falling was one thing, but break-nose-flopping was taking it up to eleven. I tried to stand up, and as soon as I did, I heard a voice yell with a vengeance.

“What the fuck do you assholes think you’re doing?! Do you want me to beat the living shit out of you?!”

One of the kids screamed a very non-manly scream and the other exclaimed, his voice clouded in terror.

“Run, dude. Run!”

By this time, I had sat against a wall and was perching my head back to try and stop the bleeding. My savior came up to me and crouched down to look me in the eye.

“Hey, are y- Annabeth?”

I took a closer look and saw him for the first time. The same scar, the same unruly black hair, the same eyes, dark as the night, the same Asian complexion, the same short nose and thin lips that had made their ways to many people’s nightmares. Jinn “The Samurai” Yamagata. The best fighter I’ve ever known. He had beaten the living hell out of many people and made a reputation out of it. That explained why those boys had run away with their tails between their legs. I laughed loud and whole-heartedly.

“Well, this isn’t the worst way you’ve seen me, but not a good coming-back impression, is it?”

“You ran away for a year, decided to come back and didn’t tell anyone anything? You absolute dickhead!”

“Hey, you might not enjoy surprises, but the others do!”

“Fair enough. Now come on, everyone’s going be excited to see you again.”

He helped me up and lead me to the place we usually hung out, in front of school by the gates, just out of sight. Everyone was there, just I hoped they’d be. Alice and Thales were smoking, Reyna was regretting ever being born, Percy and Jason were laughing at some stupid joke Leo made; how he got here I have no idea, and Will was making out furiously in the corner with Nico. There was a newcomer though. Jason’s arm was around a girl with long, chestnut hair. The Jinn yelled, catching their attentions.

“Heads up, bitches. Annabeth’s back in town and she ain’t about to let y’all do whatever like I did.”

I could pretty much hear everyone’s chins collectively hit the ground except for Leo and the new girl. Even the lovebirds had broken apart. And then Percy. There was a reason he was known as “Percy Fucking Jackson”, and it wasn’t a good one. He came charging towards me like a royally pissed off bull and I took the brunt of the charge, with Jinn laughing besides me.

“Percy Fucking Jackson you let go of me right this instant or I swear I’ll castrate you!”

“Sorry, sorry, I just… missed you, I guess.” He took on a sheepish grin and started scratching his scalp nervously. I took my turn as the angry bull and tackled him in a bear hug.

“I missed you, Jackson. I really did.”

He looked surprised for a moment, but he hugged me back just as tight. We weren’t dating anymore, but I still loved him as a friend. I would always, no matter how many times he had proven he deserved to be called “Percy Fucking Jackson”. He was my friend, and around these parts, friends were in scarce quantity. We broke apart and I took a look at everyone else. Each one of their face’s was ingrained in my memory like a marking on a cow. And nothing had changed. Jinn was still smooth as stone, unreadable. Alice was still living breathing fire to Thalia’s dry wood. No wonder those two were inseparable. Jason was still stern, and by all accounts, the dad of the group and very much a control freak. No one could blame him really, but sometimes the joke got old. Hazel and Frank were nowhere to be seen, he was still asleep, most likely and she didn’t have the guts, or ability, to wake him. Only person other than Frank that had woken Frank up was Jinn, via vicious axe kick to the gut. And when I say axe, I mean I’ve seen cleave wood with that kick. Reyna was just casually hovering. No, really, that woman was tall. She’s like 5’9” while everyone else was 5’6”, except for Jinn and Frank. Then, there was the newcomer. She was about my height, give or take an inch, long brown hair and native-American-looking. But what I noticed more were her eyes. The colors of her eyes. One of them was wood-brown and the other was light-blue. I smiled when she looked at me.

“What’s your name? I’m Annabeth, but you probably heard him.” I nodded towards Jinn, who was, very weirdly, all smiles and happiness. Usually, all the emotions he displayed were calm and slight happiness.

“It would be a miracle if I hadn’t. I’m Piper, and I just transferred.”

“Oh, you’re the Piper. Jason told me about you. I had never seen your face so I didn’t connect the dots.”

She blushed ever so slightly at this. I let out a small chuckle. She seemed nice.

“So, guys. I have an idea.” Jinn wasn’t smiling anymore. He was dead serious and that sent mixed signals. Thalia gave him a small jab and said in a mocking tone.

“Spew it, boy.”

“How ‘bout, tonight, we do the bonfire, since Annabeth’s back and Piper knows fuck all about us. Whaddaya say?”

Bonfires. Really, just glorified campfires in the woods, was something we did every period in school. One night, a shit-ton of booze and no adults. If there was a newcomer to the group, we told the story of how we all met. If not, we just got shitfaced and fucked around.

“Yes please, I can’t be around my dad and stepmom anymore.” I said, faking desperation in my voice.

“Neither I nor Percy have anything to do, so yeah.” Alice’s voice was nasally because of the cigarette smoke.

“Will, you in?” Nico had a devilish smile on his face and I had an idea as to why.

“Jason, you and your girlfriend coming too?” Percy was a dick, as usual, but a useful dick.

“Yeah, Jackson, we are.” Jason sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, much to Piper’s amusement.

“Cool. Mom’s not going to be home tonight so we can crash at mine if you need.” Thalia seemed all to happy to have the house to herself. “Rey, you coming.”

“Rey?!” She exclaimed indigently. “But yes, Thales, I’m coming.”

Thalia snickered and took a drag out of her cigarette.

“I’ll call Hazel and asked them. Same place as usual?” Jinn asked

“Where else, Rock-Face? Unless you want to light a campfire in your front porch, that’s a yes.”

“That I would not do.” He grinned and put his phone to his face, calling Hazel.

“Hey, Hazel, Annabeth’s back- “There was screaming coming from the other end of the phone.

“Yeah, I think just now, but look, we’re having a bonfire today because of that and I was asking if you and lover boy were in?”

There was a second of silence before a grin illuminated his face.

“Dope. Eight P.M. tonight on the usual spot.”

The bell rung and we hastily headed to class. It was going to be a good day.


	3. Preparation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not dead (yet) and neither is this fic, I've just been uninspired. - F

III

Jinn

Class passed by fast. Not that I paid much attention, but even without ADD I would’ve thought it was fast. And I was pretty sure it was because of tonight. A mix of happiness and worry. I was happy because Annabeth was back. I was worried Thalia would be forced to tell the story again. I was happy Jason had someone who completed him. I was worried Piper would turn her back on us for what we did. As I thought everything over and over, class passed. What the hell is happening to me? I’ve never been one to overthink. And why was I so happy earlier? I don’t know and I don’t like it. Nothing time couldn’t fix. And just like that the day’s final bell rung and I was out. We met up at the front gate like always.

“-Leo, I don’t care what your GPA is, if you don’t stop getting detention it will go down. You’ve got to watch out man.” The accused as always, Leo Valdez, rose his hands up in surrender.

“But you’ve got to admit, gluing the Stoll’s shoes to the ground was cool.”

“Ugh, Leo, it doesn’t matter if it’s cool or not, what matter is that it’ll paint a worse picture of you, and that’ll make the teachers not be as willing to give you a higher grade.” Leo just sighed in defeat. Jason still tried to care of all of us, even though he knew very well he couldn’t. Valorous non the less. I collected Alice and Percy, said “see you later” to everyone and we went on our way home.

“Dude, you’re not my dad, you don’t need to take care of me.”

“Might not be your dad, but I still am your brother, and that means I got to take care of you, because otherwise, you’d get yourself killed.” He sighed. The rest of the way we went in silence. We had three hours and those went by just as fast. Homework was easy, once in my life and the time passed by fast. Now came the hard part. Convincing Percy’s mom to let us go. Or really, my mom. She adopted me when my grandma died, along with Alice when she was taken away from her mom. This woman was nothing but pure kindness. I went upstairs to grab my guitar and backpack, since I was cooking as always. We got our stuff and headed for the door. Percy turned back and shouted.

“Mom, we’re going to dinner at Thalia’s and we’re crashing there. Love you.”

“Love you too honey. Have fun.” Came the energetic response from the office. Where she found energy to take care of three teens and write a sequel to a best-selling novel and still keep in good spirits was beyond me. The woods were on the edge of town, about twenty minutes on foot. We made a small detour to go to the supermarket, but that was quick. Those were silent twenty minutes. Finally, we reached the clearing we used to make the campfires. There was already a pit dug out, so it was just getting wood and lighting it. Percy and I went to get said wood, while Alice stayed and prepared everything for dinner. The silence between us was heavy as a freight train.

“You two have been awful quiet.” It was just supposed to be an offhand remark, but it stopped Percy dead in his tracks. He looked angry, like he had failed. I put a hand on his shoulder and tried to sound friendly.

“Percy, what’s the matter?” I was never the best at talking to people and getting through to them. Maybe a product on little human contact when I was a kid, maybe because I don’t like human being in general. No matter the reason, it was I department that I sorely lacked skill in.

“Look, I don’t want to sound patronizing or anything, but we don’t think it’s best for you and Thalia to tell the story. I mean, I’m okay when comes to me, but she’s a bit… unstable, let’s say it that way.” “I’ve noticed.” Thalia was different lately, she was scared to be alone, afraid of her own shadow, and her emotions seemed like a dam about to give in. That’s why I’d been scared, but I figured she would tell us and that it wasn’t that bad, but for Percy to notice and say this, it was definitely bad. Really bad. Percy wasn’t the most brilliant when it came to reading social situations and for him to notice and think it was that bad, it meant we were all pretty much dead.

“I’ll talk to her. For the time being, we prepare. It’s not like calling it off is feasible at this point.” He chuckled at this, and we went on our way looking for dry wood with a much less loaded silence between us. We succeeded on our quest for timber and came back to find Alice chopping vegetables with a vengeance.

“Cucumber offend you?”

“I’m worried.” Her eyes remained glued to the vegetable, but she had stopped stabbing it like she was in a life or death situation.

“You and me both, but for now, there’s nothing we can do. We’ll figure out once we get there. Now, give me your lighter, fire isn’t going to start itself.” Perks of your sister being a smoker, there’s always a lighter when you need one.

“Hey, let me just call Jason on case Piper has an allergy.”

“You worry too much, brother.” She kept cutting the vegetables, not looking up to face me. “But go ahead, doesn’t hurt to know.” She chuckled and I smiled ever so slightly. I dialed Jason and the phone rung twice before he picked up.

“Sup.”

“Hey, Jason, does Piper have any food allergies or anything?”

“Let me check.” He shouted the question towards Piper, somewhere in the room. The question came back in shouting as well.

“She’s vegetarian, if that’s what you meant.”

“Yeah, that’s what I meant. See ya in an hour.” I hung up and went back to cooking, careful not to put the meat in the pot by instinct.


	4. Campfire

**IV**

Jinn

After the soup ordeal was done and dusted and everyone had arrived, we sat around the fire just absorbing the moment. It was rare having peace like this, even in the other bonfires, there had always been a shadow of the things to come, and not just the calm we all wanted. I sat back in my chair and inhaled deeply. It was good having peace for once. And then Thalia came to mind. All the things I had noticed in the past couple of months, the small things no one else seemed to have picked up on. I started wondering why. She was acting out, that much I knew and I cared for her, more than I wanted to admit. Only one way to find out, I thought as I stood up and motioned her to follow me. She understood and we went behind a big that was nearby. I looked her deep in the eye.

“I’m going to ask and don’t even try to lie to me. Where did the bruises come from?”

Her eyes went as wide as saucers and there was a moment of stunned silence. She opened her mouth but no words came out. She fixated her eyes on her shoes.

“It wasn’t practice, I asked Arty and she said you’d been a no-show to first. So where?”

She was still silent. I put a hand on her shoulder and she looked at me, a pain I hadn’t seen in a long time in her eyes. I knew there was only one option, she was letting it happen. I had taught her to fight and she learned well. She looked even more pained. More so, she was afraid. She was a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming bus. She was frozen in place, her gaze fixated on me. I had caught a sore spot and I knew it. She finally got her posture back, but I knew she was lying. It was more than obvious.

“D-Don’t worry. I made them when I was riding my bike. Nothing to worry.” Came the half-assed excuse. I sighed.

“If you say so. Come on, let’s get back before they start wondering”

We both got back to the campfire, seeing everyone sitting and chatting. I smiled.

“So, let’s decide now. After we eat, what do we do?”

It was always like fighting a war deciding to do after dinner. There were always three clear winners. It was both Dungeons and Dragons, going to the woods in the dark when it was freezing cold outside or a stupid teenage game in which we always managed to lace booze.

“What are the night’s drinks, miss bartender?” Jason asked with a mischievous grin. Thalia’s face lit up and she reached for her backpack, pulling out a bottle of vodka, whiskey and gin and two bottles of coke.

“Well, mister Grace, today our stock is at an all time high, so your choice between the present drinks.”´

I coughed and got their attention.

“I propose a vote.”

“Between what?” Leo inquired.

“D&D or truth or dare, then we eat, then papa Jinn’s story time for little Piper. All in favor of D&D raise their hands.”

Thalia, Reyna, Annabeth, Nico, Will and Jason raised their hands.

“All in favor of truth or dare?”

Alice, Percy, Frank, Hazel and Leo raised their hands.g

“I vote for truth or dare so Piper has the tie breaker. What shall be, ‘o fair lady of the lake?”

She blushed slightly.

“I think… truth or dare.”

“Then it is decided. Who starts?”

Everyone looked at Piper expectantly.

“I guess I don’t need an answer. Begin.”

She thought for a moment before looking at Thalia.

“Thalia. Truth or Dare?”

“Dare.” She always answered lightning fast, even when she was wrong.

“I dare you to climb that tree.”

“You call that a dare?” With a confident smirk, Thalia got up and went around the tree, settling on a low branch a few feet above her. With the grace of a cat, she leapt up and held on to the branch, swinging her legs upward and roping them round the branch. Singing herself around, she got herself on top of the branch, standing with extreme agility. Initiating her climb from there, branch after branch she conquered the tree with extreme agility. Jumping, spinning and grabbing her way to the top, she let out a yell of victory. Jumping down with a flip and landing silently, she exhibited a huge grin.

“My turn!”

She made her way to her chair and grabbed a beer.

“Jinn, truth or dare?”

“With you I’m fucked anyways so dare, to hell with it.”

“Hmmm… Let me think.” She put her index on her chin and took on a thoughtful look. Then came the grin. That oh-so-scary grin that made its way into your nightmares because at that point you knew you were in for a dozy.

“I dare you to do four cartwheels in a row.”

“I’ll give you your words. You call that a dare?”

I got up and stretched my tee-shirt. I breathed in deeply once and let my body fall forward. Stretching my hands, I caught the ground and resisted the instinct to push upwards. Letting the momentum of my legs carry over, I let them fall and hit solid ground before tumbling towards the ground once again, with some added force this time. Again, my hands touched the ground and again I let my legs carry over me. I did it twice more and got up with a jump. Turning towards them, I did a bow, receiving some clapping as congratulations.

“Annabeth. Truth or dare, east coast?”

“Oh, so just because I moved for a year that makes me an east coaster?”

“Yes, it does. Now answer the god dam question.”

“Truth then.”

I wasn’t ready for that. I was not ready, but I had learned to welcome the unexpected.

“Who in this group have you had a crush on?”

Her calm demeanor was shattered, her face blushing a bright red as she looked away.

“I-I d-don’t… I…I…” She focused for a moment and regained some semblance of her ever-present calm.

“Well, first and foremost Percy and that one was obvious.”

“Like Yoda said, ‘there is another one’.” Came Leo’s joke, which for once was welcome. Annabeth blushed hard again. She tried to breathe deeply and keep her composure, but it was useless.

“I-I-uh...” She mumbled uselessly.

“Ok, new strategies. Yes or no questions.” She nodded in approval and I began.

“Is it someone from Cali?”

“No.” Her blush receded ever so slightly.

“Are you dating a guy from here?”

“I’m still single Jinn, but yes they’re from here.” She had regained her usual color.

“Is it a guy?”

“No.” A collective gasp emerged from the group. Annabeth had been raised by an unreceptive father and a purely homophobic step-mom. When Alice had come out as a lesbian, Annabeth had distanced herself from the group because of how she had been raised.

“It’s a girl and don’t ask me for her name, I’ve just cried myself to sleep a shit ton of times trying to come to terms with it and…” She began crying, Percy wrapping his arm around her, trying to comfort her as she curled into a ball, tucking her knees to her chest. She suddenly got up and walked away without a word, still crying.

“I’ll go after her.” Percy said, getting up and following Annabeth.

“I’ll go make sure he doesn’t say anything stupid.” Nico got up from Will’s lap and followed with a very displeased sigh. We all stood there in stunned silence. Then Thalia began shaking, her eyes going wide in fear.

“No!” She muttered and took of bolting into the woods. I stood up and looked to Reyna.

“Ramirez, you’re with me.”

“Why me?” She spurted in a stuttering shock.

“Because you’re the only person that can be alone with her without getting your head ripped off. So, you’re with me.” She sighed in resignation and we both took off in the direction Thalia was headed.


	5. Falter

**V**

Thalia 

I run and run and run and panted harder and harder and headed deeper into the woods. God, why did Annabeth’s reaction remind me of me? Scared. Stunned. Caught vulnerable. I had to run. Otherwise I’d crack and spill the beans. And I couldn’t risk it, not with what’s at stake. If I told them, they’d abandon me for sure. I mean, how could I do this to them. After everything that happened, allowing the root cause of all our problems to come back they’d turn their backs on me. No, I already fucked up their lives for good and thoroughly. This was my problem to fix. So I run faster than ever before. I look behind me but no one’s following me. Good. Then my foot hits a tree’s root. I trip. I try to catch my balance. I can’t do it. I fall. I taste the dirt. God, why is everything so hard for me? What have I done to deserve this? Haven’t I paid for my crimes? No higher power answers my mental question. I curl up and feel the tears streaking down my cheeks, hot, like acid tearing away at my skin. I lean against a tree and curl up even more. Why did I have to be so weak? Such deadweight to the people I love. The tears seared my skin like hot irons. I hear footsteps but they are distant. A faint echo from the far end of a tunnel. Someone shakes my shoulder and speaks. It’s faint. I can’t make it out. I look up. It’s like watching a mute film. The mouths move, but there’s no sound. Only the ringing in my ears and the ever-painful tears. Slowly, the boy’s voice makes its way over the ringing. At first it’s faint, just barely over the deafening silence of the corners of my mind.

“Thalia Grace for fuck’s sake answer or so help me.”

“I’m here.” It comes out in weak and roughed out voice, like the croak of a toad. A girl’s voice speaks now. A voice I know very well, that turns my nightmares into dreams. “Thalia, what happened?”

“I guess… I just… he… and…” I can’t even make a full sentence. It’s all a blur. The forest and him aren’t in focus. But her face is center frame to my eyes. Her caramel skin almost glistening in the sun, her dark eye almost piercing and looking through. That’s what I’m scared of. That they’ll figure out. No. They can’t. I won’t let them. Even if I have to push them away. No matter what, I’m not putting them all in danger again. Not if I can help me. I take a deep breath. I focus. The world comes back to focus. Jinn’s standing above me, expressionless on the outside. But I know him. I know he worries and cares inside. No matter how cold or uncaring he appears. He still beats himself up inside for what happened. He still want to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders, not even daring himself the thought of sharing a burden, even if it killed him.

“I’m sorry I ran off. The she reacted reminded me of how I was back then. I’m sorry.” I muttered. Pathetic. Couldn’t even clear up my mistakes. A hand reached out and cupped my face, forcing me to look up. Reyna had a mixture of feelings in her eyes. She was sad. She was worried. She was relieved. She was suspicious. I was beginning to think I should tell them. Then the voice came, threatening me. Threatening their lives, threatening to kill them, threatening me, promising me that what had happened was just a taste compared to what was to come. And I didn’t say anything. Not now. Probably never. This was my burden and my burden alone. And it was mine to bear. I had fucked up their lives enough. I found the courage to stand and face them. And I knew exactly what to tell them.

“She remembered me of me back when it all happened. And then this feeling of falling came and I was falling and falling and I wouldn’t stop, so I snapped. I’m sorry; I don’t know why I ran like that.” Jinn allowed himself a small smile.

“It’s okay.” It was simply that but it meant so much more to me. Maybe he didn’t know it. Maybe he never would.

“Let’s get back.” They nodded and we set off. Everyone was quiet. I sat down again.

“Anyone mind if light a cigarette?” Asked Alice. No one objected and she took one out and lit it against the fire. I raised my hand and she understood, throwing me the pack. I took one out and lit it. The familiar feeling of choking on the drag scratches at my throat. It’s comforting even having a familiar feeling like it. Annabeth wasn’t back, but I wasn’t worried. Of all the people here she could handle herself best.


	6. Not Forever

So, I'm going to start another project over on Wattpad, so I'm stopping this one for now. However, like the title says, it's not forever. I will keep coming back to this and writting but new chapters will be few and far between. This fic will not be abondoned, simply it won't have my fullest attention. Thank youu all for your patience in reading this God-awfull mess that I wrote, I wish you all the best in these times, see ya later -F


	7. I'm back :)

So, remember me talking about a project on Wattpad? Yeah, that was absolute bullshit. So I'm comming back to this fanfic, the new and improved version. I overhauled a lot of the storyline and concepts, so this should be good. New chapter should be up in a minute or so, have fun and stay safe-F


	8. It has begun

I sure as hell didn’t want to run after Annabeth. But of course, Percy Fucking Jackson intervenes, and he has to go save the day, and I have to manage the aftermath, because there’s nothing better for me to do. But all of that went out the window when I sensed it. That ringing in my ears, the sense of someone coming closer, yet not being there, the sensation that scared the shit out of me. I ran full pelt. Percy must have felt something was wrong too, because he was right behind me. There was a small clearing ahead, and as soon as I saw it, the ringing peaked and stopped. We broke through to it, and there she was, motionless, lying on the ground. She wasn’t dead, at least not as far as I could tell. Standing over her was a face covered in a raven mask. He looked up at us and exhaled with pleasure.

“Ah, I see our other guests have arrived. Very good to see you are on time, as is to be expected.”

Our marks flared and their projection came up. This guy meant business. He must be one of them. I summoned my staff. A small hole opened in the ground and the bone staff broke through, atop a pile of bones. The skull on my shoulder dissipated. Percy unscrewed a water bottle and formed his trident, the waves on his forehead disappearing as well. I turned to the mysterious man and proclaimed.

“I am Nico Di Angelo, prince of the dead. State your purpose in these hallowed lands” The words came as instinct, but I was used to it at this point. We had all grown to trust our instincts in these situations.

“Oh, so you know of this grounds history? Then you must not harm me, or risk the protector demand payment.”

“You harmed our friend. You have broken the rules.” Percy commanded more respect than I did. The long polished staff was reassuring in my hand. I held on tighter, worried for Annabeth, lying on the ground, defenceless. The man cackled.

“I have done her no harm. She merely sleeps under my illusion. I have not come here to kill you, not yet. I merely come to warn you. Something big is coming, with claws of a monster, the face of a devil and teeth of a beast. And you, my dear younglings, are no match for it. I come here to advise you to run as far and fast as you can.” And on that note, he faded back into the forest. I let him run, there was no use chasing after him. I dropped my staff; before it hit the ground the shadow absorbed it. Percy’s bottle was full again. We ran towards Annabeth. She seemed fine. Percy picked her up and I took my phone out of my pocket. “WE NEED 2 MEET AFTR. SRSLY. MAJOR SHIT GOING DOWN” luckily Jason hadn’t added Piper to the group yet. We walked back towards the campfire, giving Annabeth time to wake up. She was still shaky, but otherwise fine. When we got there, Jinn shot me a small nod. The night went by fast, and nothing much more of note. The mood was grim enough after what happened, so we put off telling the cursed history of this place. Thalia let out a loud yawn and stretched.

“I’m done. Who’s bunking with me, because I ain’t getting up after to open the door.” This was a tactical decision. Getting as many people in one place to discuss what had happened, but it would also reduce the chances Piper found out about us. Jinn stood up and stretched.

“Al, me and fuck-face over there are with you.” He swung back his head and drank a large gulp of vodka. Jason and Thalia also stood up.

“Let’s get going. I wish you pain, death and misery.” Thalia gave everyone the finger. I stood up and silently followed them, blending with the shadow. We walked for about five minutes before I appeared again.

“Holy fucking shit; it feels like I’ve been chocked to death.” I said as I fell to my knees. Shadow blending took a lot out of someone. Jinn turned and lit a flame in his hand, casting light on the area. He threw it, letting it over in the middle of the impromptu circle we had formed.

“What was so urgent?” Jason asked. I looked at Percy and signalled for him to speak while I caught my breath.

“Some dude knocked Annabeth clean out and was just there, waiting. He knew about the hallow ground and he didn’t seem surprised about the marks. Either it’s Marcus’ son, or one of them.” Almost immediately the wind started howling and the air turned electric.

“Stop it, you’re flaring. Last thing we want is to leave a trace and have that guy know where you live.” Do these people have no self control?

“Fuck. Do you think this what Marcus meant? First strike will be the catalyst for a cursed crusade and all that?” Jinn made a good point. Jason rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“If it was this he meant, what do we do?” Alice raised her hands.

“Hold your thunder horses, this might be a coincidence. For all we know, that moment could’ve been the last thing.” A fury flared in Jinn’s eyes.

“You know damn well that was different. It was barbaric, unthought-of. This was calm and methodical. Remember what Marcus told us about them. The act like this, not like what came before.” There was hurt lingering in the air. We all knew what this might mean.

“Fuck that old man. He took everyone we loved from us and then fucked off to someplace else and left us with this shitstorm to deal with. We’re kids for fuck’s sake. I say fuck him, fuck this, and fuck this war we didn’t ask to fight. Let’s just live our life like normal teens for a fucking second.” I finally snapped. There had been enough bloodshed already. Everyone had this weird look about them, like this was something unexpected. I looked behind me and there he was standing, the man in the raven mask. I felt the warmth against my back before I realized what was happening. In the blink of an eye, Jinn was standing before, his swords ignited in flame, ready to fight. The man laughed.

“So, you are the mighty flame, boy?” He laughed again, mocking my friend. He raised his sword and pointed it at the man.

“Who are you and what do you want?” The man took a second to regain his composure.

“I see you have a quarrel with me. I believe my associate passed by this region. Tall, blonde, scar across his cheek, as cruel as he is dashing? His name is Luke Castellan.” This made Jinn snap. The whole of his body burst into flames, reaching high into the sky. He dashed forward towards the man, screaming like mad. The masked man tried to dodge, but before he could make a move, he had two swords buried to the hilt in his chest.

“I’m sending you first to whatever comes after. He’ll come soon don’t worry. But for now, you’ll be alone. Burn!” And before another word could be said, the man’s body erupted into flame, leaving behind only a pile of ash.


	9. Consequences

Jinn  
The visceral feeling of flesh searing in the heat was a new one. As the swirl of flames culled and the ashes that remained fell to the ground, I knew what I had done was right. We all knew. But was it justifiable? I turned to them. Thalia and Nico seemed unfazed, almost happy. Jason looked confused, there was a war within him. Alice exploded the second our eyes met. But her tone was calm.  
"Look at what you've done now. I guess that's it, huh? We're criminals now. Criminals accused of being born this way, we stand trial for the sin of being on this side of the war, this side of the wire." She fell to her knees and buried her head in her hands. "What do we do now? They're gonna come after us and they are more and better. How do we survive that? Or did that occur before you immolated the dude?"  
"He got what was coming to him." I had no quarrels with taking lives like they didn't. I made my swords disappear, the flames consuming them. Thali put her hand on Alice's back.  
"Too late now, we've all made mistakes." Alice let out a dry laugh.  
"This was no mistake was it, Jinn?" I had no way to answer that. I wanted him to burn in hell. He and his friend had nearly destroyed our lives, for that he deserved death. Before I could answer, Percy intervened.  
"Look, mistake or no mistake, we've all fucked up at some point and we live with it, deliberate or not is out the fucking window. We get home, we talk about it. We better scram, his friends might still be here."  
We ran for Thalia's house and in less than five minutes we were there. We slumped on the couches and breathed a sigh of relief. If we weren't dead yet, it meant his friends weren't around.  
"Is he really dead?" Thalia seemed still hard stuck grasping the fact.  
"Thalia, I immolated the dude, ashes is what's left, how much deader can someone be?" I laughed. What did she mean?  
"No, I mean Luke. The guy said he was looking for him, that means he's missing right? He wouldn't bail on their cause, especially when it's us he's up against." Jason nodded at his sister.  
"It makes sense, he wouldn't just give up, not now after all he's done. He's committed. He'll only stop when he drops dead. If he hasn't already."  
"He hasn't." I knew so.  
"How are you so sure, big boy?" Alice was snapping for some unknown reason.  
"I placed a mark on him and I can still feel. He's alive, but I can't tell how much or how far he is." Nico seemed shocked.  
"You can mark people?" He looked dumbfounded. I stood up.  
"It's easy, I'll show you." I gestured for him to stand up as well. "Give me your arm. Now, what you do is, you prick your finger and draw blood. This is gonna hurt, so be prepared." He reached out his arm carefully. "Put blood to the skin, and then pour some energy into it. This part is a bitch. If you do too much, you hurt whoever you're doing it on and might not work. Too little and it fizzles out and doesn't do jack." Knowing what I was doing was only half of it. The target changes the amount of power needed. The stronger they are, the more is needed. The flesh sizzled against my thumb and Nico let out a muffled grunt. I took my hand away to reveal the small flame imprinted on his inner forearm. He rubbed his forearm, still red from the burn.  
"This hurts like a motherfucker. So what does it, other than tell you if I'm alive or not?" I sat back down on the couch.  
"Right now, I can tell how fast your heart is beating, and I can sense your energy. The more time you're marked, the more I'll be able to tell."   
"Why haven't you marked everyone?" The obvious question, courtesy of miss Thalia.  
"Because a mark drains energy after being placed, the more you resist, the more energy. If I marked everyone and kept my mark on Luke I'd be a walking corpse." She nodded.  
"Makes sense. Where' you learn it?"  
"The old man taught me." Jason's chin hit the floor.  
"He thaught you this? Talk about playing favorites." I laughed.  
"He taught how to teleport, Golden Boy. You should be the last person to be surprised." Thalia looked at her brother in shock.  
"You can teleport? You two were always his pets."   
"Well first off, I'm no one's pets, second off, he would've probably taught you something of the sort. We didn't exactly graduate his training."  
"Hold up. What do you mean?" Alice spoke for the first time in several minutes.  
"He said we'd be ready by seventeen. We still had three years to go before he got the hell out of here." Thalia looked grim.  
"I wonder why, Jace. I wonder why." We all knew what she meant. She and I had caused a whole lot of shit. Characteristic of me then, to kill someone out of spite.  
"Let's leave the depressing conversations at that for the night, shall we?"  
I shrugged. We could talk about it another time, with everyone else.  
"Anyone hungry?" Percy asked. I nodded.  
"Pizza?" We would usually order pizza when we were sad. Everyone shrugged.  
"Two large pepperonis and coke right?" There were no objections.  
"Mind if I take your bike Thals?" She nodded.  
"Keys are in the same place." I got my stuff and left.


End file.
